


A Useful Thing

by orphan_account



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Emotional Turmoil, Forniphilia, Human Furniture, Not sure if intrusive thoughts or mental static works better, Other, Polygrumps, Service Submission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-26 14:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13237719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Dan's used to the inside of his head being busy. What he can't stand is when his thoughts are *loud*.





	A Useful Thing

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling down and wanted to write something that I could finish fairly quickly, since the fic I am currently working on is much, much longer. Theseus was nice enough to prompt me. Love you baby! <3

The inside of Dan’s head was always busy, he was used to that, thoughts bouncing around, turning into jokes for the show or song lyrics or what have you. He didn’t mind it terribly, and he could always move the background thoughts further into the background if he needed to focus on something else. Usually.

Sometimes though, the thoughts in his head were *loud*, refusing to be pushed aside for anything. Sometimes the thoughts started at potential song lyrics and somehow jumped to some event from his past, something embarrassing or painful and he ended up focused on that instead of what was going on around him.

“Dan?” Suzy was looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face. She put down her fork, her breakfast half eaten.

Damn. She had been saying something. Dan tried to recall what the conversation might have been about, but all he could think about was that time in third grade when—

“Dan? What’s wrong?” Now it was Holly asking him, looking at him from across the table.

Dan tried to focus his attention between the two of them. He opened his mouth to tell them that he was okay, then closed it again. The words were stuck in his throat like a pill he couldn’t swallow, jagged and bitter. He felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes as his face screwed up in frustration. He put his hands over his ears for a second, then tapped the side of his head.

Arin walked over from the stove where he had been making eggs and sat down next to Dan. He had seen this before, during weeks when Dan was burning the candle at both ends. “Too loud in your head?”

Dan nodded and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand.

Arin made eye contact with Dan and then reached out and put both his hands on Dan’s shoulders, giving Dan plenty of time to move out of the way if he wanted to.

“Can you finish breakfast while I have a talk with Suzy and Holly? It’s okay if you can’t.”

Dan nodded after a moment and Arin smiled.

“It’s going to be okay,” Arin said as he got up and walked over to the girls.

Dan chewed on his toast and tried not to think about how they were talking about him. They weren’t looking at him, so at least he didn’t have to deal with that, but what were they saying? Were they going to be able to deal with this, his stupid head with his stupid thoughts and—

Suzy got up from the table and walked over to Dan, standing in his line of sight before speaking.

“Wait five minutes and then come into the living room. You’re going to help me paint my nails.”

*******

There were so many things that went into properly painting ones nails. There were cotton balls and manicure sticks and nail files, not to mention things like base coats and top coats and the actual nail polish itself. All of those things were balanced on Dan’s back as he knelt beside Suzy’s chair, a cushion under his knees so they wouldn’t get sore.

Dan could see the end table that had been moved aside to make space for him, tucked away into a corner, before he lowered his head. He took even breaths, putting all of his concentration on not wobbling, on being as solid as possible. He could hear the background noise of the television and feel Suzy’s small movements as she picked things up and put things back down on him, but all of his focus was on being still, on being a useful thing.

“Suzy? I need to borrow him.”

Dan heard Suzy stand up, then the various bottles and things were being taken off of him and Holly was helping him stand up. She waited for a minute while Dan stretched, his back making interesting sounds, and then he was being lead away to Holly’s workroom.

*******

Holly puttered around, occasionally doing something with the sewing machine or scissors and pins, talking to herself or to the birds outside her window. She didn’t talk to Dan. She wasn’t in the habit of talking to her dressmaker dummies.

Occasionally Holly would put her latest project on Dan, manipulating his limbs however she needed to. She would make adjustments, stand back, mumble something, make more adjustments, take the piece off of him, put something else on.

Dan didn’t even realize when Holly put him back in his regular clothes. Dummies didn’t think about what was being put on them. They didn’t think about anything.

Arin didn’t even look at Dan when he entered the room. He looked past Dan and nodded his head, then took Dan gently by the arm.

*******

Arin was a fidgeter by nature, a pen tapper, a nail biter. When he was drawing it was even worse, and if he wasn’t careful he’d spend all of his time tapping his stylus or biting his nails and not drawing a thing.

Dan sat by Arin’s left hand and let the sounds of Arin drawing wash over him, the half mumbled curses when things went wrong or the pleased sounds when things were going well. Every so often Arin would reach down and play with Dan’s hair in an idle way, twisting the strands through his fingers, concentrating on his drawing and not on Dan at all.

Dan leaned against Arin’s leg, his head full of white noise, comforting static.

******

Dan woke up in bed the next morning with only a hazy memory of being lead there the night before, along with vague memories of having eaten something at some point. Arin was curled up next to him on one side, Holly on the other, with Suzy cuddling Arin.

The inside of Dan’s head was normal again, background thoughts once again in the background. Dan smiled, closed his eyes, and let the breathing of his people lull him back to sleep.


End file.
